I can no longer find anything interesting to read anymore

MimiAngel621 said:

I feel like I'm going crazy, I don't understand it. Everytime I try to search for a great book to read, I can never find "the one." Every book I come across doesn't appeal to me anymore, and it's very difficult for me to get hooked into the story even if the first sentence grabs you. It wasn't always like this, though. I used to read so many books but I don't know what happened. I get bored with most of the stories out there.
I think that one reason why I don't read many books anymore is because all of a sudden, it's real hard to find a book that features a male and female main character who work together, are around the same age, unrelated, and don't fall in love with eachother..

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Broaden your horizons. There exists a vast galaxy of books with plots that don't fit the narrow paradigm you seem to be looking for. Some recommends:

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
Dandelion Wine, by Ray Bradbury
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
The Fixer, by Bernard Malamud
My Antonia, by Willa Cather
A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
The Ox-Bow Incident, by Walter Van Tilburg Clark

There will be a test on the first of November.

caw

MimiAngel

I can *totally* relate to what you are talking about concerning not finding anything to read. I had a very long period - on the order of years rather than months - in my mid to late 20s when I couldn't find anything to read. Everything turned me off. Part of it was that I had become hyper-critical, so I had to kind of force myself to be more open minded (but this was about 20 years ago now, so I'm having a hard time remembering details) and I also changed what I was reading. I had been reading literary, and I went back to my original love, SF. I think I also re-read a lot of favorites from when I had been younger, so all that combined eventually to bump me out of it. But the open mind really makes the difference IMO -

I have an insufficiently developed opinion on your second topic to share a grip specifically, but I can say two things. One of the stories I'm working on actually has a man & woman MC who are adversaries and remain so - they come to the end grudgingly helping each other out - without ever going romantic. I have a gripe about that type of fancy fine literary lit - the stuff that wins those lovely prizes and such like - I just can't stand that stuff. Just write a goddamn story will you, and stop trying to show everybody how clever you are...

ok - I'm done with the soapbox - anybody want it?

Since you liked House of the Scorpion, I'm going to recommend both Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks (young boy goes to school to be a criminal mastermind, makes very good friends with a girl through the internet, but no romance--at least not in the first book, which is the only one I've read); and Battle Royale by Koushoun Takami (similar in plotline to The Hunger Games--school children forced to kill each other off by the dystopian government--but without that godawful melodramatic narrative style and again, no romance).

I'm going to recommend also that you NOT put down the "classics" around these parts. It's fine to say that they're not to your taste, but to call them "dull" and "boring"--you're walking a thin line there. You don't have to like the classics, but please respect them. They're classics for a reason.

MimiAngel621 said:

these "classics" that are written in such a way that it's hard for a modern reader to understand.

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Bullshit. The prose in every one of these novels is about as simple to comprehend as the menu at McDonald's. If you can comprehend the preceding sentence, you won't have any trouble reading any of those books. Until this moment I've never heard anyone say that Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke or Harper Lee were "boring" and "hard to read". It's clear you've never looked at any of their work.

I reiterate, and will leave this thread with this:

You want to find more interesting reading? BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS.

caw

blacbird said:

Bullshit. ....I reiterate, and will leave this thread with this:

You want to find more interesting reading? BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS.

caw

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seconding both for truth.

Moving this to the bookclub for recomendations with a gentle note to the OP. If you would like folks to participate, a try it with a little less rude.

quicklime said:

seconding both for truth.

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Thirding.

I know exactly what you mean -- romantic subplots are in everything. It's like Hollywoodized movies, with the predictability ("Oh gee, they're kissing. What a shocker.")

And I didn't realize just how far it had spread until I looked over my bookshelf just now. Even among the really good books that I've collected to read again, Obligatory Romances are all over the place! And not only that, it is really hard to find books with male and female characters of similar age who don't fall in love.

I found two on my shelves to recommend, and those barely qualify since the opposite-gender characters aren't together for a very big part of the book. Still, it's a start.

The Girl With The Silver Eyes, by Willo Davis Roberts, is a young adult book about a girl with telekinesis who finds out there's a reason for it and tracks down others like her (including one girl and two boys her age, with no romance).

Oath of Swords, by David Weber, is a fantasy epic with refreshingly different takes on the standard fantasy races. The main character gets pestered by a god until he agrees to be the god's champion in a clash with other godly forces. As a hulking inhuman from a race cursed with a blood rage, he's the last thing that most people expect in a paladin, but he does it well. (His traveling companions include two eligible females, but there is no hanky-panky. Possibly because they're human and two-thirds his size.)

And it just occurred to me to mention the book that I'm reading for the first time right now. I'm only halfway through and I can't promise that the main character doesn't fall in love -- ((wait, just asked someone who's read it. He doesn't. Awesome.)) So yes, this is a great book with no mushiness for the main guy. It's called A Test Of Metal, by Mathew Stover (it's a Magic the Gathering book). I am very impressed with this book because the main character is unique, clever, and compelling -- I've stayed up later than I should have for a few nights already when I planned to read "just a chapter." There are female characters, but the MC has more important things to think about than romance. Like survival, and outwitting an elder dragon, and collecting a rare metal, and demonstrating to everyone who's out to get him that he's the cleverest bastard of them all. (He really is.)

I recommend these books, and hope you find something you like soon!

Originally Posted by blacbird
Bullshit. ....I reiterate, and will leave this thread with this:

You want to find more interesting reading? BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS.

caw

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KTC said:

Thirding.

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Fourthing....if one can indeed do this.

Man, give me a book, whether it be classic or modern, new author or someone I read all the time, and I'm happy as happy can be. I cannot not imagine reading. I finish one book, and I move on to another. Sometimes I even read books that poorly written books that contine great stories, and other times I read well written books but have poor story elements. It just depends.

If you write, you must read widely and in the genre you want to write it.